Hunger Challenge: Not a lot of variety

Staff and volunteers at the Food Bank are taking the Hunger Challenge Sept 12-16 as part of Hunger Action Month to bring awareness to the issue of hunger in the community. They will be living for the week on a food budget of $4.72 per day, the average amount a person receives in CalFresh (Food Stamp) benefits. It’s not too late to take part. Learn more: /events/hunger-action-month/hunger-challenge.html.

Read the experiences of the participants thus far.

Aaron Yuen, Volunteer: I came in 36 cents under-budget on Day 2, not bad for 1850 calories of food. This is actually kind of fun. I believe I am having some decent food for the money and eating healthy. I cooked enough brown rice on Day 1 to last for 3 days. I will have one more meal of brown rice on Day 3, and perhaps some soup and a sandwich too.

I have been eating uncooked old fashion oat meal for breakfast for years. My recipe is oatmeal, walnuts, protein powder and soy milk all mixed together. It only cost 76 cents. It is as balanced as it comes with good carbs, fibre, omega 3 fats, and protein. It tastes great too.

Caitlin Sly, Farm 2 Kids Coordinator (second year taking the challenge): So, I am ashamed to say that I failed the Hunger Challenge. Yesterday I began to feel like I was coming down with something. My nose is stuffy and my throat hurts. I decided as much as I wanted to succeed, I needed some orange juice, hot tea, and to eat healthy. So I cheated — but what a luxury to be able to cheat. If this were reality for me orange juice ($3.49) and tea ($7.00 /box) would have broken the bank. What do CalFresh recipients do if they get sick? Are they able to care for themselves the way that I am able to? And although it does not “count” for the Challenge I began to think about the costs of the medicines I bought. There is no way I would be able to afford Day Quill ($7.51) on such a limited budget. Not to mention that I had the luxury of health care (thanks to working at the Food Bank) and was able to call an advice nurse. Last year I learned that the Challenge can be done but it involves a lot of monotony and uninteresting food. This year I learned that is only true as long as you are healthy.

Lauren Strouse, Office Assistant: Breakfast for the entire week is a variation on a theme: toast with peanut butter and a side of fresh fruit; yogurt and fruit (mostly Steve); toast, a hard-boiled egg and fruit; or just egg and fruit. A loaf of Steve’s favorite bread (Oroweat Honey Wheat Berry) at the Oroweat bread store, was $2.09 and has 20 slices ($.11 per slice) – more than enough for a piece of toast each day and sandwiches besides. A jar of Laura Scudder’s Natural Peanut Butter at the Grocery Outlet was $2.49; it has 14 servings at 2TB each, but we only use 1TB on toast because the slices of bread are very small so it’s only $.09 per TB. I purchased a lot of fruit at the Grocery Outlet: 1lb of strawberries for $1.99; cantaloupe at $.99 each; bananas at $1.99 for 3lbs or $.20 each. Raleys had grapes for $.99lb; and we bought peaches at Larry’s Produce 3lbs for $1 ($.25 each). I prepped everything on Sunday except the bananas and peaches so it is just grab and go. I like to make small fruit salads so I get a combination of the fruit. Yogurt was also from the Grocery Outlet – 3 cartons for Steve (all the same flavor) and 3 for me (plain Greek) at $2 for all six ($.33 each); jumbo brown organic eggs were only $1.69 a dozen so I bought those there as well. The only change this week for Steve has been a lack of choice in yogurt flavors; for me it has meant no high fiber cereal so I am hungry again by 10am, however, I also was able to purchase a package of string cheese for $1.29 and it has 10 pieces in it ($.13 each) so I did have a snack mid-morning today and Steve has a couple with him should he be hungry this afternoon. I also have yogurt and strawberries if I feel I need something this afternoon.

With the exception of a sandwich on Monday, the plan for our lunches this week is to eat leftovers from dinner the previous night – not a change from our normal routine. Dinner last night was great – didn’t even make the salad I had planned, opted for sliced cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden instead because the head of cauliflower we steamed was so large. This is only day number #2 – will we stay within our budget?

Veronica Wimer, Purchasing Manager (second year taking the challenge): Tip of the century – get a pressure cooker! I cooked 1 C of dried pintos in only 10 minutes (soaked all day while I was at work) which yielded 2½ C cooked. I cooked the beans in 4 C water and 1C Vegetable broth. With the left over broth I cooked ½ C barley which yielded 1C cooked so I’ve got dinner and lunch for a couple days. Cost: 35¢ for the beans 30¢ for the barley and 70 ¢ for the broth. $1.30 for two meals… not bad. In an effort not to use up all of my allotted rice milk I didn’t make the cheese sauce that comes with my mac n chez, I just used butter.